Cold
by Trying Day
Summary: She was forgotten, even by her own Godfather. (New character)
1. Rushing in the ears

Lana closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain that was coming towards her.

"Thought it'd be funny, eh girl? Thought it'd be a right hilarious joke to pull? Well you're payin' for it now, huh?"

Lana cried out, her cheek stinging from his hand across her face. She hadn't had anything to do with the tree branch through the living room window. Not only had she not been at home when it occurred, it was near impossibility to get that overly large tree branch, nearly as thick as the trunk itself, through the window. It had been storming, absolutely pouring. Lana had been returning from a four-hour walk, completely soaked, and the minute she walked in, Uncle Henry started screaming at her.

The pain just continued, getting worse from there on out. Eventually, he left her to be, sending her to her basement room, a converted storeroom.

The cinderblock walls were desolate and dreary, reminding her of what her life had been, and was permanently set to.

She looked at the small of her back in the mirror, where Uncle Henry had beaten her the worst with a curtain rod. It was going to be a horrible bruise in the morning, worse than it could've been for the bruises from last week weren't completely healed.

She changed out of her clothes into her nightclothes. One of the benefits of having your guardians refuse to pay for anything is that she would work 10 times as hard to make a living; therefore, she was able to pay for extras, including decent nightclothes.

She collapsed in bed, wincing after realizing that it hurt to lie down. She immediately fell asleep.

"Harry, wake up! They want you downstairs!" Harry groggily opened his eyes, and reached for his glasses. He saw that it was 3:00 in the morning, and he was not happy about waking up this early. "What do they want now?" He groaned. Ron shrugged. His flaming red hair was messy, sticking straight up in all directions. "I dunno." "Real helpful Ron." Harry forced himself up, and walked downstairs.

"Harry, there you are, the Order is in the dining room, they need to take you somewhere." Mrs. Weasley said, pointing to the door.

He walked through the door, where several Order members were sitting around the table, looking excited, but worried. "Harry, sit down, there's not much time to explain." Harry took his place.

Lupin began. "Well, there's this girl. Her name is Lana Grivaldi, and she's about your age. Well, she is your age. Exactly. But she's a witch, and she has no idea. It has to do with her guardians; they prohibited her from finding out. But we've found her, there was some commotion at her home and we investigated. It's her. We need to go get her. But we need you to go along."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"We figure she would be frightened if a bunch of peculiarly dressed old people suddenly appeared at her doorstep in the middle of the night, so we figured you might…soften the look of us."

Harry was slightly shocked. A girl who had gotten past Dumbledore's radar was highly unusual. Her parents must really have wanted to keep her from Hogwarts.

"So what do you say Harry? Would you like to accompany us?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"Where does she live?"

Lupin looked slightly discouraged, and maybe anxious.

"America."

Harry's eyes widened slightly, and then started awkwardly, "I guess we, uhh, I guess we should get going then.

Everyone nodded.

"Right. Then let's get going." Lupin said.

Harry got up and walked with Tonks and Mundungus out of the room. He noticed Snape giving him glares, but he ignored it. "He's mad because we prohibited him from coming."

"Why?"

Tonks smiled.

"Well, the point is for her _not _to get scared, isn't it?" Harry laughed at this, but stopped when he had another thought.

"Tonks, we aren't flying our brooms over to America, are we?"

"Of course not! We're taking floo powder to one of the American members of the Order. Then we'll take the bus to Lana's house. Luckily it's not that far away." Harry just nodded.

Lana woke up to the noise of a loud rushing in her ears. She often got this when someone was coming for her. She was sincerely hoping no one from the Benivan family up. Especially Uncle Henry.

The rushing kept coming. Lana clamped her hands over her ears, attempting to get the rushing to stop, but it only got louder. Then, as suddenly as it came, it stopped.

The doorbell rang.

Instinctively, Lana jumped out of bed. She didn't want Uncle Henry, or the other Benivans to get the door.

She rushed up the stairs, and she heard Uncle Henry yell to her, "Get the damn door girl!"

At least she knew he wouldn't get it first. It was unlikely he would even get out of bed. But that was okay with her. She had a feeling he shouldn't, that if he did, it might mean trouble for her, and more beatings than she cared for in one day.

As she unlocked the double bolted doors, she realized opening the doors so quickly without looking to see who was out there might not be the best idea. All the sicko's out there and on TV. But not only could she not have cared less, she didn't get the sense that this particular party was a group of psychos.

"Hello?" She asked. A group of strangely dressed people were standing on the front stoop, all serious. Although she still didn't think they were going to kidnap and rape her, she did feel a little bare in her Aeropostle short-short jam shorts with the monkeys on them and the tank top. She realized you could see several of her bruises and cuts with her slightly skimpy pjs. At the front of the group was a boy about her age. A man wearing purple shabby robes spoke first.

"Hello Lana. We're taking you away."


	2. Silent

"I'm sorry, I can't go with you. Please leave."

The man laughed, much to Lana's dismay.

"Please quiet down." She said nervously. The last thing she needed was for Uncle Henry to wake up and have his sleep disturbed for a strange man who wanted to take her away. Then she thought, were these people social workers? She asked them.

He laughed some more.

"No no, I'm Remus Lupin. I'm your godfather."

Lana's eyes widened. "You-You're my godfather?"

He nodded.

She looked around. "I'll let you in, but you need to keep quiet. If Uncle Henry wakes up…" They nodded, and she opened the door for them to enter. They filed in and she took them down to her cinderblock room. "They can't hear us down here." They nodded and sat wherever they could find place to sit.

"This is your room?" asked a woman with blue and silver hair. Lana nodded and the woman responded, "Kind of dreary isn't it?" Lana said nothing, and sat down on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chin.

"Lana, the first thing you need to know is that, you're a witch." Lana's expression didn't change, but really, she did think that her godfather, if that was really who he was, was being a little harsh.

"You're a witch in like, a magic way." The woman with blue and silver hair said. She seemed to be young, maybe in her early to mid twenties.

"Like, you can do magic?" The woman tried again when Lana didn't respond.

Realizing that they were expecting Lana to acknowledge them in some sort of physical manner, she nodded her head.

"Not very responsive are you?" Lana still just stared at her with a blank look.

"Lana, we really do need you to speak. We need to explain things to you, but we need to know that you're listening so can you please just at least respond by nodding?" Lana nodded. "Good"

"Ok Lana. Your parents were killed by Lord Voldemort. He was an evil wizard, who was thought to be destroyed 16 years ago by him. His name's Harry Potter" Lupin pointed to the green-eyed boy. "Your parents were Price and Natalie Grivaldi. They were members of an Order that fought the followers of Voldemort and himself. Unfortunately, they were killed. We put you in the care of some non-wizard folk who used to live England. The agreement was that they would give you back when you were old enough to go to Hogwarts, a wizarding school. We sent a letter to you, but you never got it. We were going to pick you up just 4 days before your birthday, and then go get Harry, but when we arrived at your house, you were…gone. Upped and moved. We had no idea you were in the States. We meant to do a world-wide search for you, but then we got Harry, and we…" Lupin trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Forgot about me?" Lana finished for him.

"Well, er, uh, well, yes…sort of." He looked uncomfortable. The blue and silver haired woman was looking almost amused at the exchange, and Harry looked confused as if he really didn't know what to make of it.

Lana just sat there, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, er, we couldn't find you guys, and now we found you. We had just thought about your case lately and started looking sort of, and tonight we saw there was a disturbance of magical power, and we discovered that it was you. What happened anyway?" Lana's eyes clouded over and looked down at her feet. It seemed at that time that the other three in the room noticed her bruises.

"Oh." Lupin said. "Well, we're going to take you back to Europe. There's no way you're staying here." Lana nodded. "Get your things packed." She packed everything in a trunk.

"That trunk was your father's." Lana nodded. "And that necklace. It's your mother's." Lana nodded again. She was still not sure why she was going with these people, but she really wasn't thinking. She felt it was okay, and the green-eyed boy, Harry, made her feel strangely calm.

Eventually, she finished and they headed outside. "We have to go to the bus stop, and wait for another bus. We'll go then to an Order member's house, then floo out of here. The next bus comes in about 45 minutes." Lana mentally asked herself what "flooing" was but she figured they would tell her in time. They sat on the bench, and Lana realized she was still in her pajamas, having only slipped on ballet flats. She felt cold in the July air, strange considering she lived in Florida. But the nights were generally like that here, so she just ignored it and sat on the edge of the bench.


	3. Invisible

Lana shut the door behind her, and heard muffled voices coming from the other side of the wall.

"They're talking about you, you know." Said a portrait of an old man behind her.

"I know. I don't care." Lana replied, not really surprised too much at the talking photo of the man.

"You know, teenagers really bug me with their passive aggressiveness."

Lana shrugged the man's slightly offensive comments off.

"Weren't you originally in the other's room?"

The man shrugged and said, "Yes, but over the summer the Minister had a heart-attack right there in the headmaster's office, and Dumbledore sent me to alert them here. The red headed one didn't seem to like the Minister or me and decided not to go and get anyone. The Minister could have died, if Remus hadn't have heard me."

"I'm sure you were just begging the boy to get someone to help your beloved Minister."

The man looked disgruntled, but Lana didn't take amusement in it. She collapsed on the bed.

"You don't seem to have much respect for your elders."

"Who _are_ you?"

"Why, I am Phineas Nigellus. I was one of prestigious headmasters of Hogwarts. Surely you know where Hogwarts is, or are you too caught up in the new American boy band to know."

"You didn't have many friends when you were younger, did you?"

Phineas looked extremely annoyed, and left to whatever painting that wasn't in that room, and Lana tried to shut out the voices in the next room, which had somehow found their way into her head. She didn't want to but for some reason, she could hear each voice as sharp as it would be if she were right in the room…

"So where is she? What's she like?" Lana could hear a girl's voice say.

"Well, she's from America. Strangest accent. And her house was sort of small. But it was really strange. She seemed…afraid of waking up the people in her house. And she had bruises on her arms. And legs…and everywhere."

Lana was almost angry to hear Harry spill about her bruises. How dare he spread it around like it was the weather, or time of day? And the Brits said _Americans _were gossips.

But even though, she quickly got over it, to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"Bruises? Oh gosh, did they beat her?"

"That seemed to be the general consensus by the other two."

"Oh Gosh, that's awful."

There are three ways people usually respond to that type of news, Lana had learned. You know, the kind of news when a teenager dies from alcohol poisoning, or when someone stabs the department store Santa Claus. The first way is for someone to sigh and shake their head and think or say, "The world these days." The second way would be fake pity. Not real pity, but the kind you feel for someone you might not know very well, like your friend's grandmother. You feel like your obligated to say you feel sorry for them, so you say you are.

The last way is the way the girl was reacting. Extremely similar to the second one, except you just haven't heard of things like that enough. You say you don't believe it or that it's awful, because it is, and you can't believe it but you really haven't processed it.

Lana had come to the conclusion that people couldn't really react the correct way unless they could understand through their own experiences. Sympathy is one thing, _empathy _is another. Lana tried to be understanding, since she figured since they didn't understand her, why would she understand them, but sometimes it was hard for her.

She refocused and listened again.

"What really struck me, was her eyes. Like you know how Voldemort's eyes are evil looking? Well her's…they were empty. I mean, like emotionless. And when we were outside, I had a sweater on and I was cold, but it was like she didn't even feel it. She had a pair of short pajamas on, and she didn't even shiver. It was almost scary. And she wouldn't talk or anything. And when I sat down next to her, she was like, afraid to have me touch her."

"I wonder…" The girls voice sounded full of curiosity.

"Maybe she wasn't just beaten…if she was maybe…" Lana froze. No. She couldn't know about that...

"You mean she was raped Hermione?" And yet she knew about it somehow. That girl Hermione must have been really smart…it was something Lana wanted to forget. Lana had long since stopped caring when Mr. Benivan got drunk, she even eventually stopped fighting him. She had stopped feeling anything emotional. She barely showed pain anymore. In a sense, Lana was almost proud of herself. She didn't burden anyone with her problems, and since she stopped caring, she didn't burden herself.

She wasn't anybody. She was just an existence, filling empty space that wasn't crucial to fill. Even her godfather forgot about her.

She could be invisible.


	4. A Quite Impossible Task

Lana had stayed in her room for hours, long after Harry, Hermione and the other two kids in the room had left, even longer after they had moved onto another subject. She just lay on the bed, staring at nothing. A woman with a sugary sweet voice had come to the door more than once, offering supper, but Lana was completely disinterested.

When Lana saw the first shimmer of light come over the horizon, she knew it was somewhere around maybe five am. She decided maybe she should get out of the room. She might not run into anybody, but it was of course entirely possible. She walked out of the room into the long hallway. She glanced at the door next to hers, recalling the words spoken hours before. The room was empty now, the door hanging wide open. She glanced in. It was cluttered, orange posters with teams of some sort, moving posters, hung on the walls. Clothes strewn about, and Lana figured it was Harry and the other guy's room. Ron, was it? The beds were unmade, and large trunks were open, their contents spilling out. It was a mess and yet Lana almost found it appealing. Her room was always kept immaculate, and this was refreshing. But she left the room and wandered aimlessly down the hall.

"Hello?"

Lana spun around, and saw Harry. She didn't say anything, just stared at him.

"Hi." He said with a friendly, almost hopeful smile.

Lana still didn't respond.

He looked like he was about to just shrug his shoulders and go off, but then, the sugary-sweet voice that had come to the door before hand came up the stairs. She was a pear-shaped woman, and was slightly out of breath by the time she reached the top of the stairs

"Oh hello Lana, I'm glad to see you out of your room." She stared at Lana expectantly, but Lana didn't respond. The red-haired woman saw Harry.

"Harry, Dumbledore wanted to speak to you when you got the chance. He's in the library."

"What about?"

"Well," She glanced pointedly at Lana, "It's about recent events." Lana wondered if she was really expected not to understand that they were talking about her, but she left it alone.

Harry nodded, with a glance to the woman to show that he understood her "subtle" message.

"I'll get right to it Mrs. Weasley." He walked down the stairs, and Mrs. Weasley turned to Lana again to speak to her, but she was already gone, her door closing behind her.

* * *

Harry wondered what about the girl Dumbledore wanted to talk about. He hoped he would find out more about her, but he didn't think Dumbledore just wanted to fill him in. Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, anybody could do that. He had a feeling that Dumbledore called him in personally so he could ask him to do something, or it was to inform him of something that he didn't want others to hear. 

Harry hadn't had the best summer in the world. He never did, but the death of his godfather wasn't better. The reading of Sirius's will had been the most depressing thing. Harry felt as if people were saying, "Well, he's dead, but hey, you can have his stuff!" Harry learned that he had inherited almost all of his money, and although he probably didn't really have to ever work again, he would give it all away if he could just have Sirius back. He still had it in his head that it was his fault, and he had mostly kept to himself all summer. The only real talk he had had with Ron and Hermione and Ginny was just then to discuss the arrival of Lana. He had barely said a word to them before, only when necessary.

He pushed open the large doors of the library and saw Dumbledore sitting in the large armchair. Dumbledore had been twiddling his thumbs and looked up from his hands.

"Oh hello Harry." The old man said simply, as if Harry just came on an unexpected visit.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Oh yes. Please come sit down." He gestured to a chair across from him.

"Harry, I wanted to talk to you about Lana." Harry, having already known it, just nodded.

"Harry, Lana is…well, she hasn't had a nice life. I know in all honesty, you haven't really either. But believe it or not, your guardians…or, at least, Petunia, cared for you in some way. The fact that you shared the same blood had something to do with it, and blood is very important, as we have seen in the past. But Lana didn't live with anyone even remotely related to her. We chose a random family as her guardians, believing she might be safer. But she wasn't. We picked a bad family. There was really no way to tell this. We checked their records and everything. But unfortunately, records really only show problems that have come out to the open. We didn't know Henry Benivan had anger issues, because he never went for anger management. There were never any reports done about him losing his temper. We also never heard of him being an alcoholic, because he also never went to sessions at Alcoholics Anonymous, or something like that. But, the problem was still there. And this lead to some problems. We're positive she was beaten. Probably starved. And not only does this make an obvious health issue, but the mental and emotional problems. There is a chance, a not-so-unlikely chance, that she might she might never recover from this."

"But sir. What does this all have to do with me?"

"I would like you to be her…Babysitter of sorts. I want you to teach her the ways of the wizard."

"You want me to teach her magic?"

"No no. I will be doing that. I want you to fill her in on our _world_. Our history, the way our society works. And I want you to make her comfortable. I want you to try and break that shell around her. I want you to try and get her to talk." Then his face got serious.

"There is another concern that I feel I must mention. Although we are positive that she was abused, we don't know if she was abused in other ways than just beatings."

"You mean raped, Professor?" Dumbledore nodded.

"I feel she may not be to keen on you touching her…in any way. I'm not implying you would do such a thing, not you, but victims of rape can be scarred for life, making them afraid of anything. One woman I heard of was in a mental institution for it, and had to be put in a closed off ward, because when she walked down the hall when she first arrived, another mental patient, male, was walking down and she went into hysterics. She refused to let any male nurses come anywhere near her. I don't think Lana is in that boat, because she lived with the man who did it, and I'm almost positive that if id did in fact happen, than it was more than once. I feel she may have just given up on her life, but I want you to show her life is worth living."

"Sir, if you think she would be afraid of me, than why didn't you choose Hermione or Ginny to do it? Maybe they would…"

"I think you would be the best choice from all the others because…well, I think you'd do a better job of getting to her. I think you are more likely to be able to understand what she's been through. Although Hermione and Ginny are great people, they just wouldn't be able to...understand. They haven't been through as much as you have."

Harry nodded. "Would you like me to start tonight?" he asked.

"Please do." Harry breathed in deeply, knowing that he was just given a close to impossible task.

* * *

Lana had returned to her room and had returned to her bottom bunk. She had been lying there close to an hour when she heard the door open. She had been facing the wall and turned around quickly. Harry shut the door behind him, and Lana became almost frightened. Mr. Benivan did that…

Harry must have seen her fright on her face. "Would you like me to keep the door open?"

Lana thought about it for a moment, and wondered if an open door would really make her anymore comfortable. He didn't have an angry, lustful expression on his face…

Lana decided against it anyway. Maybe he didn't look the part, but maybe…

He nodded and opened the door back up. He went and sat on the window sill, running a hand through his hair, contemplating the task ahead.


	5. Someone who understands

Harry sat there for a moment before realizing he didn't know what to say. He didn't know where to begin, and he didn't know what he would say once he got started. He knew he was supposed to get Lana to...speak? No, that wasn't it. He was supposed to do two things. Inform her about the wizarding world and…help her get better. Heal. That was a good way of putting it. Help her heal. From whatever she had been through. But _how?_ Healing physically was easy enough. Emotionally, mentally…Dumbledore must really overestimate him. Harry wasn't a therapist. And Harry felt though he might have been through more than Ron or Hermione, Lana was far worse off than him. This wasn't a job to give a sixteen-year-old kid. _"What on earth was Dumbledore _thinking_?" _Harry sighed. What was he going to say to Lana? She turned around to face the wall on her bed, exposing a good 3 inches of her back. Harry saw nasty looking bruises, worse than any he'd ever seen. They splayed across her back, more visible in the lighting here. The bruises were the purple-red-blue-black kind. And they weren't faint. They were clearly defined against her pale skin. He could see every bone in her spine. Her shoulder blades stuck out, and Harry figured that Linda's guardians didn't feed her.

He realized he had been silent for over 5 minutes, and sighed, still at a loss for words. He eventually decided to just tell the truth.

"Dumbledore wants me to talk to you. He wants me to get you to talk. He wants me to teach you the ways of the wizard. I don't really know what to say though." He looked over at her, trying to see if she was listening. She was still facing the wall.

"The thing is, is that I don't know how. Dumbledore makes me frustrated. He…Well, I suppose he's brilliant. But sometimes, I have a hard time seeing where his logic comes from." Still no movement. "Like last year. He had kept a secret from me, one that could have saved my-my godfathers life." He stuttered, and choked on his words, but continued. "Dumbledore had known of a prophecy that told that me and this evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, were supposed to have a huge battle at some point. It's either him or me who has to win, fight for the death. If I win, he has to die. If he wins…" Harry trailed off. "Anyway, he tried to do it when I was a baby. He killed my parents…Well, we told you all that stuff. But anyway, after that, somehow we were linked. Our brains somehow…Like I can feel his really strong emotions. And sometimes what's happening in his life when I'm asleep. Unfortunately, it meant that he could…plant visions. Making it look like he was doing something that he wasn't. He made it look like my godfather…" Harry spilled the entire, awful story. He didn't know why he felt like talking about it with Lana. Well, _to _Lana. He still didn't know if she was listening but he still continued on, eventually his talking leading him to other stories. He told about Sirius and how Harry and the rest of the world thought he was a murderous criminal who betrayed his best friends.

Eventually he realized that he had been talking for almost 2 hours, and it was now dark out. He was now extremely hungry. He sighed and stared at Lana. In his talking, he hadn't noticed how Lana had turned around and was now staring at him intently. He smiled slightly at her and she showed no reaction. He stood up and walked to the door. He turned around before going through and said goodbye. She didn't respond; her eyes hadn't even followed him. He sighed. _"Well, can't expect her to open up right away." _

He headed downstairs, figuring it must be past dinnertime. He found he was right, and he also found that the dining room was off-limits because of an Order meeting. He heard voices and he wondered what they were talking about. He tried to get closer to the door to listen, but it threw him back when he touched the door. He sighed, and headed to find his friends, probably outside on the balcony. He headed over to the balcony to discover them sitting, sipping lemonade. Ginny was telling a story apparently, and Ron and Hermione were laughing. He sighed, a sudden feeling of dread passing over him. It had been near impossible for him to…_connect _with the others anymore. After Sirius' death, he suddenly seemed to realize that he and his friends had nothing in common. They all had happy, loving families. They were able to goof off and play around like normal teenagers. Harry didn't feel as if they understood at all about his predicament. They knew about the prophecy, he owed the story to them, after dragging them along on a wild goose chase to save someone who didn't need saving. Harry had liked talking to Lana better. He didn't know why. Maybe because he knew she wouldn't judge, or respond, or even try to comfort him. She just…well, it was nice for him to be able to talk to a person without them being overcome with pity. Maybe he felt she might be able to understand, maybe just a little, tiny bit. He hoped so anyway. He really wanted to believe she did. But even if she didn't, it was nice to talk to someone who didn't talk back, but listened. It was feeling Harry couldn't explain. But it was a bad one and a good one all at the same time, bad because he barely knew her and didn't know what she was like, and good because he _did _have someone to talk to.

He walked onto the balcony, and they all stopped laughing. Hermione smiled and said, "Come over and talk to us. Mrs. Weasley told us how you were assigned to talk to Lana." Harry feigned a smile. "It's not that bad." Ron raised an eyebrow but shrugged his shoulders, and they all got back to talking and laughing, occasionally trying to include Harry in the conversation.

"_I wonder why her guardians beat her. She's obviously been through crap. I wonder how she feels. Is she angry with them? Sad? I bet it'd be awful to find out you were forgotten. Even her godfather forgot about her. Hey wait, how did he know her parents? …"_

"Harry. Harry!" someone was asking him something. "Wha-what?" "I asked you if you were glad you were going back to Hogwarts."

"_No duh." _

"Yes, of course, ummm, I think I'm going to turn in early, okay? I'll see you guys later."

"So early? Harry it's only 8:00!"

"Yeah, but I'm really tired. Bye." And with that he walked off.


	6. Broken glass

Lana didn't know what to make of Harry. At all. He had been sent by this Dumbledore guy, so how much could he really care? But it didn't sound like Harry had done what Dumbledore wanted him to do. _"Help me?" _Lana of course didn't mind how Harry had talked to her. He hadn't come near her, obviously knowing she didn't want him to. And he didn't ask her annoying questions, prying into her life. He also didn't act as if he was forced to do it. Lana had had the impression he didn't know what to say. It was okay though. She liked it. And she got it. She knew she couldn't understand him completely, but she got what it felt like to have no one there, no one to…connect with.

But he had friends. Surely they were a comfort, right? She groaned and rolled over. She heard someone return to their room next door, and crash on the bottom bunk. She wondered if it was Harry, and then wondered why he would go to bed so early. She couldn't here anything from the room to be sure it was him. She could on the other hand, hear the clock in the room. She could hear it incessantly ticking, as it slowly became more maddening to Lana. Why was its sound so clear in her head? It was driving her crazy and she didn't know why.

Then, it stopped.

Lana heard a clunk as it hit the wall. Harry must have thrown it. Now she had nothing to think about except for the growing thirst and hunger pains she had had since she had gotten there. She was used to being hungry. Thirst was never too much of an issue though. She never usually went 2 days without water. She was surprised she hadn't started hallucinating…

She got out of her bed, and opened the door. She tried to find her way to the kitchen, and succeeded. She carefully poured herself a glass of water, and made her way back, feeling through the darkness. She heard voices from the front hall, but she ignored them. She didn't really care what they were saying, as it might very well be about her. She hurried up the stairs, and barely made it two feet on the landing before suddenly feeling dizzy. She fell to her knees and the glass of water crashed to the floor, shattering. She sat there trying to get her head together when Harry came…

* * *

Harry had heard her go downstairs, and then heard her return upstairs.

And then he heard her collapse.

He sprang from his bed quickly, and flung open the door, to see Lana on the ground, staring at the shards before her, candlelight glinting off her eyes and the glass. He walked over and she looked up. It was the first time Harry had ever seen emotion in her eyes, and it was fear.

"Are you mad?" She asked quietly. He shook his head in response. "No, we just need to get this cleaned up. What happened?" She didn't respond and returned to staring at the glass. She picked up a piece that had obviously come from the rim, one side smooth and the other side sharp. She turned it over and around in her hands. She seemed fascinated with it, the way the light reflected off it. She closed her hand lightly over it, making sure its edges didn't penetrate her delicate hands. Harry watched for a moment before going to a closet and grabbing a broom and dustpan. He quickly swept it up and deposited it into the wastebasket. He also mopped the water up as best as he could. He made his way back to her, where she had managed to stand up, however weakly, and she was now leaning against the wall. He noticed her bare feet, and said, "You should probably stay clear of this area, or at least wear shoes of some sort. I don't imagine I got every single piece, so there may be a chance of getting your feet cut…" She nodded, almost dazedly. Harry still wondered why she had collapsed. He thought back on it.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

She nodded. "Just wait a moment, I'll get you something." He descended the stairs, and came up moments later with a glass of milk, a sandwich, and several fresh strawberries. Her eyes widened. It was the closest thing to a full square meal she had really ever had.

He handed it to her. "Thank you." She muttered.

Lana was shocked that he had gone to the trouble of getting her the food. If she had broken a glass in her old house, it would mean pain. A glass was more important than her there.

She had retreated to her room, leaving Harry to scratch his head, once again. She just wasn't ready to trust anyone yet.


	7. Her voice is heard

The nights after that were more of the same. Harry became the only one Lana would let bring food to her, as she didn't want to see anyone else. He only brought food once a day, when he came for his talk with her. Lana got water from the bathroom upstairs now, not wanting to have to sneak down. She knew that she was probably not getting enough nutrition, missing all of those vitamins that "growing girls need to have". But she was getting more than she had before and that was okay for her. She still held her skeletal figure, but she no longer got as many pounding headaches anymore like she used to, now that she was getting food on a regular schedule instead of leaving her body to wonder when the next scrap of food would come along.

The sessions with Harry usually included the same as the first, though it varied on the time. Sometimes it was close to 2 hours again, and some were as short as 15 minutes. But Lana didn't mind too much. She liked listening to Harry's stories. Sometimes it would just be him telling her about her day, and then it would retrieve other memories that he would tell. Lana had learned everything she needed to know for survival in the wizard world. She knew what teachers, classes, people, to avoid. She knew about houses, and she had funny little anecdotes from Harry to go with it. She felt like she knew Hogwarts like she had been there for several years. Though she knew she had a very one-sided opinion. Harry was one person, with a somewhat predisposed opinion. She doubted everyone really disliked the Slytherins as much Harry did. But really, she knew all opinions were based on facts, and she trusted Harry's opinion.

Not Harry, just his opinion.

* * *

Harry didn't know what Lana was getting out of his sessions with her. She never said anything except a thank-you for his food. Harry wondered if she even listened to what he was saying. Though she must right? What was she doing if she wasn't listening? Though he hoped that if she was listening, it wasn't just because there was nothing to do. But he guessed that he couldn't ask for much.

He had now almost completely withdrawn from everyone except for Lana. She was the only one he talked to, really talked to. Others, it was just a few short sentences. Even Ron had noticed how much Harry had changed. He went from somewhat talkative, to silent. Ron, of course, had no notion that it was Lana whom Harry really talked too.

Harry had been called from his room again, this time to go down and speak to the Headmaster. He had not seen Dumbledore since he was assigned to help Lana. He headed into the library, wondering if he would tell Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was sitting in the exact chair, reading this days _Daily Prophet, _and smiled at Harry, gesturing to the same couch Harry had sat on before.

"So Harry. How's Lana doing?" Harry took a deep breath. He wouldn't lie to the man. He couldn't.

"I can't say she's really much better. I mean she's hardly eating, and she only eats the food I bring her. She doesn't seem to trust anyone-"

"Except you?" Harry didn't know what the Headmaster meant. Lana didn't trust him…

"No, she hardly talks to me."

"But she trusts you enough to give her food, when nobody else can even come into her room. 'Hardly talking' is better than 'completely silent', even if it's just the same thing like a goodbye as you leave."

"She just says thank-you, for the food."

"But it's something Harry." Harry realized the old man was right. He was the only one Lana had trusted, at least some. He had actually done something right!

Dumbledore could see the realization on the boy's face. He smiled knowingly and told Harry he could go.

* * *

Lana had been waiting all night for Harry to come up and talk to her. She realized that those sometimes-short moments in the day were all she ever looked forward too. She knew that she might just be a job to Harry, but it was still something right? Every person needed something to look forward to. Lana usually just eagerly waited until she was able to sleep at night, as it had been the only real escape before. Now her dreams were haunted by old memories of the Benivans. The first night she had them, the night she broke the glass, she had been shaken awake because she was thrashing about and screaming. Harry had been the one who woke her, the girls in the bunks above and across from her hadn't even woke up until Harry came in. Once Lana had woken up, she saw Harry look frantic and worried. He was terrified. He seemed to know enough not to ask questions about the dreams, just asking her if she was okay. She now only whimpered in her sleep, shaking and occasionally shouting a name or word like "Please..no!" She was grateful for Harry not being nosy and trying to force things out of her.

She was tracing patterns on the wall that the bunk beds were against when she heard the door open.

"Hi Lana." Harry said when she turned over in her bed to face him. Once again, she didn't say anything, just stared at him. (Though Harry swore he saw that her eyes brightened slightly when she saw him)

"I just got done talking with Dumbledore. He wanted to know how you were doing, and I wasn't sure. I don't really know if what I do helps you. It helps me but that's not really the point." He paused, then looked up.

"Anyway, half of his attention was taken up by the Daily Prophet. That paper, it's such full of crap." And with that he told of Rita Skeeter, and how Hermione had guessed how she was an Animagus. He told it making Hermione sounding like some genius.

"Do you like her?" Harry's head shot up. This was the first time Lana had ever spoken, at least like that. He was so shocked in fact, that Lana repeated her question.

"Do you like Hermione?"

"Well duh, she's my friend." Lana sighed.

"No not like that, as more than friends." Harry laughed.

"Of course not! She likes Ron!" He laughed but got serious again.

" Hey, that's the first time I've ever heard you say something except when being forced."

Lana gave him a weak smile.

"Do you not want to talk again?" He was being so timid, Lana almost laughed.

"I want to talk." And so she did. She started a story of when a girl in the class invited the entire class to a party…except for Lana, simply because, "She was just _such _a freak." Harry felt a burning anger towards these people. How could anyone be so mean? And vicious?

She didn't talk to long, but that didn't matter for Harry. He was just so happy to see her…open up. He had tried for almost a month. And now his work was beginning to pay off.


	8. Almost Okay

Harry might have gotten Lana to talk, but that wasn't the only issue to work through. She might trust him, but the fact still was still that he was the _only _person she trusted, and it couldn't stay that way if she were to go to Hogwarts, which was only in one week. He told her this but everytime he did, she only nodded and looked scared. Harry didn't want her to be scared, but he also knew that she really needed to get over her fear and that Dumbledore wanted her to go to Hogwarts.

He walked to Lana's room and pushed open the door, knowing that he would have to try with Lana again, and he didn't want to. All he wanted to do was keep her there, in that room, letting her do whatever she wanted, and keep her content and happy. But he knew that would sound sort of strange, and also knew it couldn't happen. He couldn't protect Lana forever, and he couldn't just…treat her like a child.

He saw her on her bed, and he went and sat down on the window seat. She turned over and her eyes brightened. That was one thing Harry was always happy to see. Her eyes had been so empty only a few weeks ago and Harry was so grateful for that spark that showed whenever he saw her.

"Hey Lana." She didn't respond. She might talk, but she didn't always. She knew he didn't need an answer.

"Lana, we need to talk about Hogwarts. And you. I need to get you out of this room, and get you at least okay with being in crowds and…with other people. We want you to come to Hogwarts." He took a deep breath and looked at his hands. "_I _want you to come to Hogwarts. If you don't, you won't see me until…maybe Christmas if we're lucky. If not, than almost a-a year." Harry choked on his words, realizing that _he _didn't want to wait a year to see her. His need for her to open up became intensified.

"Please Lana. Just…how about I take you to meet Hermione, Ron and Ginny? We don't have to stay long. I just want you to meet them, and maybe talk to them. No, not even talk to them. I promise I won't leave your side. Though you might want to get close to Hermione, or at least semi-trust her, because I can't follow you up to your dorm room…"

He added the last part on quickly as an after thought.

Lana thought about it. She saw that Harry was almost in a panic to get her out of the room. She wondered how much he really cared about this. He looked sincere…

"Lana, what are you going to do if you don't come? Are you going to continue just lying in your room? You have to trust them at some point. _Please _Lana, please. I'm begging you." He was desperate now, not bothering to hide it anymore. Lana could see the desperation in his eyes, and it _pained _her. This black-haired boy was the only person she had ever trusted in her life, and she realized now that she wouldn't be able to live through almost a year without him.

She slowly nodded her head and it Harry let out a breath. He had been sweating bullets awaiting her response. He didn't want to go on for a year worrying about her, thinking what she was doing. He would always worry about her, but at least she would be there to check up on.

If this, of course, went well.

She stood up. She wore a pair of oversized, ratty jeans, held together by a large thick leather belt, though it hung low on her hips, and she rolled them up several times. A brown simple tank top showed several yellow bruises from almost a month before. Harry noticed several white scars placed in rows on her arm. He doubted these had occurred naturally. It saddened him and he resisted the temptation to take Lana in his arms and just protect her, never letting go. To make someone do that to themselves…He never wanted her to feel like she had to do that to herself again.

Suddenly, she seemed to sway, and fell. Harry's Quidditch reflexes went into action, catching Lana before she hit the ground. He was gentle, as if she was something that could break without any warning whatsoever. He didn't want her to break.

She shook her head, trying to stop the room from spinning. Her skin was ice cold under Harry's hands. She shivered, even though his touch was warm. She quickly stood.

"Sorry" She said in that American accent of hers. Harry loved that accent.

"To the balcony?" He asked. She gulped, but nodded. She knew that she had to go through with this.

The trek to the balcony was in truth only a few minutes away, but short walks can always seem like forever when it is passed in silence and you dread your destination, and you are forcing yourself to walk, instead of turning heel and heading in the other direction.

For Lana, the walk stretched for Eternity.

She saw red hair through the glass doors, and panicked. Harry glanced at her, hearing the catch in her breath.

She gave him a scared look, and they both pleaded with their eyes. Harry wanted to give in to that frightened look, but he knew they would both regret it. Lana seemed to know this for she gave a defeated sigh, and Harry opened the doors. Lana followed behind him, still hesitant.

Harry waited for the others to notice his presence. _"The others. How strange is that." _

Hermione noticed them first. "Harry! And…you must be Lana!" She jumped up and held out a hand. Lana looked at Harry. He already knew what the problem was. He walked to Hermione and whispered in her ear, "Lana doesn't like being touched." She made a look that clearly said she though it was weird but put her hand down anyway.

"Well, umm, sit down, how are you?" Hermione said, trying to make conversation. Harry sat down, and urged Lana to sit next to him. She moved in close to him, trying to get away from Ron, who was staring at her with a strange look on his face. Harry instinctively put his arm around her, replacing her want to not be touched with his protective instincts. She tensed under his touch, but eventually seemed to at least half relax, knowing that he wouldn't hurt her.

About 30 minutes later, Harry brought her back to her room, where he came in and sat down beside her on the bed instead of the usual spot on the window seat. Lana was almost surprised, and the smallest wave of fright passed through her, but she beat it down quickly, reminding herself that Harry wasn't Uncle Benivan. He wouldn't hurt her.

"Well." Harry began simply.

"I thought it went quite well." Lana smirked. "In other words, it went horribly"

Harry looked abashed. "No, not at all! You did wonderful! It was better than 'quite well'; it was brilliant! You didn't panic and you stayed for a full 30 minutes! Yo-you were perfect."

Lana was surprised how Harry had reacted, as if he was afraid of hurting her feelings. "Harry, I was joking." He stopped abruptly, realizing he was babbling.

"So…Hogwarts?" Lana's face darkened at this. Crowds, crowds of kids, people her age. If the kids were anything like her school-mates…Could she handle it? What would happen to her? Would Harry protect her like he said? Could he?

"I can…do it." Harry sighed, letting out a breath he didn't even notice he had been holding.

Silence overtook them once more. Harry had a question in mind, but he didn't want to destroy the newfound…comfort of sorts that had formed between him and Lana.

"Lana did you ever…cry?" He asked tentavily. He couldn't identify the expressions on her face. Sad, angry, frightened, remorseful?

"When?" She asked finally.

"Anytime. Before we came and got you." Harry didn't know why, but he felt the need to know.

"When I was little, they didn't beat me. Much. More neglect than anything. No proper clothing. No lunch money. I learned to cook and clean by the time I was 6. I never cried because I thought it was normal. Other children complained about chores, and I just assumed they were chores like mine."

"The beatings started slowly, disguised as accidents. I once was doing laundry when I was 7, and requested my usual stool so I could reach the top of the washer. My Aunt got mad, and 'accidentally' dropped the iron on my upper arm." At this, Harry made a funny jerking movement, the movement someone does when sitting on a pool edge, and someone goes and tries to shove them in, but the person catches themselves. Lana glared at him to calm down, and he automatically stilled.

"It went like that for the next year or so. 'Accidentally' closing doors on my hands, 'accidentally' forgetting to pick me up from school, 'accidentally' putting his hands…" She stopped then, choking on her words. Harry didn't prod her to go on, wasn't sure if he wanted her to go on. He suddenly had the compulsion to find a way back to that house, and use every hex he knew on them. He realized he never had a feeling like that, not even for Voldemort. It was probably because the ones Voldemort tortured, Harry never knew personally. Sirius wasn't tortured, and…it didn't totally make since. Harry wondered if this was what parents went through when losing a child.

"Anyway, it eventually wasn't hidden that they hated me. I had always sort of known it, but it was never really voiced. On my eighth birthday was my first…beating. Real beating. And then…It just went like that for the rest of my life. I cried at first, but I was just punished more for that. Eventually it stopped hurting so much. It just became…numb I guess. If I didn't think about it, it didn't hurt. If I didn't care, it couldn't hurt." Lana finished her story, and Harry wondered if he could hug her now. Or something. Comfort her, at the very least, though he wasn't really sure if anything he said would comfort her.

He finally decided just to put his arm around her. It would have to do. Lana leaned into him, surprised but pleased at the gesture. No one had ever cared for her like that.

And they just sat there, enveloped by darkness.


	9. Godfather

**Disclaimer-** I really TOTALLY don't feel the need to make one of these because everyone knows that anyone who did own Harry Potter and all of its related things (ie, JK Rowling) would probably not be writing here.

**ALSO!-** When Dumbledore says, "They're good for each other." he does NOT mean it romatically. YES Harry and Lana will get together eventually, hence why I put this under the frickin' ROMANCE catagory. Thank you.

This entire chapter really can be read by anyone. I'm really bad with ratings because this is rated PG-13(the series) and I rated it that because I know I can read it but I'm not really good with other kids younger than me. I'm SO bad at it. Okay? So tell me if the ratings to high/low.

**OH!** And REVIEW. I have TWO reveiws. I don't know if it's just because no one reads this, or if it's just because everyone hates it...But really, if you don't like it, tell me what to improve. No flaming preferably.

* * *

Something had been bugging Harry for a while now. Well, a lot of things had, but at that moment, he was thinking about a specific problem…no, not problem, dilemma. Maybe not even that. 

Harry knew Remus Lupin was Lana's godfather. Harry didn't know if Lana had registered this, or if she had forgotten…Maybe she didn't care. But that wasn't really the issue. The issue was that Remus hadn't made the slightest effort to talk to Lana. Get to know her, talk to her, even just visit with Harry from time to time. Harry thought Remus owed her an explanation as to why he had forgotten her for 16 years. And now, it seemed he had forgotten Lana all over again. Harry knew that everyone else in the house had been told not to…overwhelm Lana, but Remus, Harry felt, really should talk to Lana.

"_Maybe I should ask Remus about it…" _It was the only thing Harry could think of. They were off to Hogwarts in 3 days time, Lana included, and Harry didn't see fit to Remus ignoring Lana for another year.

That morning Harry went down to the kitchen, deciding to talk to Remus at breakfast.

"Good Morning Harry, eggs? Toast? Both?"

"Just eggs Mrs. Weasly, thanks." Mrs. Weasly smiled warmly, and turned back to the stove, humming as she went along.

"Hullo Harry. Hope you had a good nights sleep?" Remus asked as Harry sat down at the table with him. What Remus was truly trying to ask was, "No nightmares with Voldemort as the main feature?"

"I slept just fine Remus, thank you. Listen I need to talk to you about something." Remus put down his paper and coffee mug and turned to Harry. "You have my full attention." Harry smiled at how proper and kind Remus was.

"It's about Lana." Harry watched as Remus' eyes seemed to darken slightly, but he remained smiling. "And what about Lana?" Harry felt a tad angry about the way Remus said that, as if Lana wasn't more important to him than any other person in this house. But Harry refused to show it.

"Well, it's just that you're her godfather, and you haven't really made an effort to… you know, get to know her, talk to her. I just thought that…"

"Yes Harry, I understand what you mean. I was just waiting for her to be relatively…comfortable with you. I had planned to go see her today, when I heard that she was going to Hogwarts. Maybe you would like to accompany? I don't know how long I'll stay, because I don't really know how much conversation I can make with a sixteen-year-old girl. I'm just not good with that stuff."

"Okay, when?" Harry knew _he _would stay with Lana as long as she wanted him too. He also neglected to say that he never really did anything else everyday _but _talk to Lana. The rest of the time he mostly spent thinking about her. Though he didn't fully know why.

"How's after those eggs?" Remus pointed to the plate of eggs Mrs. Weasly was carrying in.

"Right." Harry said, digging in.

* * *

Only 15 minutes later, Harry and Remus were heading towards the stairs. 

"Oh wait! I forgot…I gotta bring Lana her food." Harry rushed back down, and into the kitchen, with Remus following behind. "You bring her her meals?"

"Well yeah. Who else? Slice some pineapple and strawberries, she likes that. And...bread with butter. Homemade, preferably. Oh! And do we have any pancake batter left, that's her favorite." Remus was hurrying about, getting him all this.

"Whoa wait, pancake batter? How long is this going to take? I was thinking cereal or something." Harry frowned. "I suppose. Do we have weaties? She likes those best."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You really got to know her, didn't you?" He inquired with a laugh.

"Well of course." Harry said indignantly. "You act as if it's a bad thing." Remus just shook his head and went to getting Lana's weaties fixed.

"Wait, don't put the milk in yet, it'll get soggy!" Harry screeched.

"Merlin Harry, it's only upstairs." And Remus continued with the milk, and Harry sighed dejectedly.

* * *

Harry knocked on the door of Lana's bedroom. "Come in." was the soft reply. He slowly opened the door to the dark room. "I brought someone with me today. It's Remus." Lana stared at Remus and Remus smiled uncomfortably. Harry sat down by Lana and handed her the tray slowly, placing it on her lap. She began to eat slowly, not taking her eyes of Remus. 

"He's your godfather, remember? He just wants to say some stuff." Lana nodded eating faster now.

"Er, hello Lana, as you know, I am your godfather, I was originally your mothers, uh best friend, and uh then I became friends with your dad. Actually I introduced them." There was something in the way Remus said this that made both Harry and Lana glance at each other, both thinking that he sounded kind of fake.

"Anyway, so, if you ever want to write to me, or if you ever feel like seeing me, I'm really quite available. Any issues you want to talk about, you can ask me."

Lana smiled a polite smile. "Thanks."

Remus paused then nodded and smiled. "Okay, well, er, I guess, I'll see you two later?" They nodded. "I'll take your tray." Remus said. Lana handed it over.

"Er, you don't have to go." Lana said softly. Remus turned around. "We don't really have anything to say do we?"

"Not really, but whatever. Harry started explaining Quidditch to me yesterday, but he didn't get very far. You could stay and help out or something. Or just listen." Harry almost was bummed that he wouldn't get to spend alone time right then with Lana, but he figured he would be able to be with her later. And so as Remus sat down, Harry began explaining Quidditch, while Lana listened.

* * *

"And they're really close, connected, on like, so many levels. I swear, their bond goes beyond anything I've seen." Remus said to Dumbledore, on Lana and Harry's relationship. Dumbledore smiled slightly. "I'm glad. They're good for each other. They help each other's sanity stay. I was getting worried about Harry, he seemed so broken after Sirius's death." Remus flinched. Dumbledore didn't like to tiptoe around things, but Sirius had been Remus' best friend. The last one of his childhood friends. And one of the only ones who had fully been okay with him being a werewolf. Therefore, Sirius's death was a very touchy subject. 

"Anyway, they'll be going to Hogwarts later, and I'm sure Harry will take care of Lana."

"Oh trust me, he will, he becomes an entirely different person when it comes to Lana."

And as Remus walked away, he thought of how different. Harry was frighteningly different when it came to Lana. Lana seemed different too, from all the stories Remus had heard from Ron and Ginny. From the way they told it, it was like she was afraid of them, though Remus could figure why. It was known by almost everyone in the house that Lana had been abused.

But when Lana was around Harry, just Harry, she seemed calm, content. Like Harry was a Calming Draught. And Harry…He was just…different when around Lana. He not only seemed happier, he seemed to _glow_ with happiness. Remus had never seen Harry care for someone like that. Well, come to think of it, he never could. He always saved people, but never was able to take care of them. It was always Hermione's job to make sure Harry and Ron had enough sleep, and got their homework done. Harry obviously enjoyed acting as Lana's…whatever. He wasn't saving her from mortal peril, just making her feel comfortable and taking care of her. Almost in a parental way. In that way, Remus felt Lana was unintentionally helping each other. They both needed each other, in a way.


End file.
